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Eastdale Village
Brief Description A medium sized village that is home to a couple hundred Lupes and Vulpes from the local area, and is often even more populated than that due to trade. A stop on one of the apparently ancient stone routes marked as The Great North Road. Due to the easy travel, there are merchants beyond just those trading between each other in the local area. To the North of Eastdale is a pass between tall mountains beyond almost a hundred miles of the Leina Tundra, native landscape for many Lupes sprawling towards the frozen north. To the West is the frigid sea, wrapping around to the South where there is a sheltered bay providing a second avenue for high value trade passing to the West, and further South. To the East is the Vulpes Mori, home to a variety of Vupes, including the fabled Faery Fen. Around the village proper there is a ring of outlying farms with their families denning away from the center of the area that rely on the village for help, and are an integral part of the village structure despite not being there at all times. Physical Description Eastdale Village is mostly a collection of family dens, and public spaces. To the untrained eye it might look more like an area of hummocks and carefully landscaped open areas. The village blends in, integrates, and co-mingles with the environment around it. It is a beautiful area due to the time that the villagers have invested in blending their dwellings with the landscape. Many of the trees in the village have nesting platforms with shelter grown or pulled over them for flying Lupes and Vulpes that want to live off the ground, usually those that don't yet have pups or cubs as many parents would rather not risk early flights be so risky. There are also hollows in a number of the trees for the Armored Tree-Dwellers that tend towards small dens up trees that require complex or difficult climbing to get to. Most of the Lupes tend towards dens that now are often dug under the roots of the largest trees in the hollow area between roots. New arrivals dens can be most easily recognized because they often will have built up a mound to avoid flooding in the spring when melts come, and to not have to try to dig into permafrost. Most of these new mounds will have a sapling growing over it as part of the village tradition. Families tend to train branches of trees, and carve into the wood and stone decorations of geometric patterns to beautify the area in conjunction with the living beauty around it. Common Areas There are a few stand out common areas in Eastdale Village for public fun and congregation. Meeting Amphitheater Sculpted out of the living rock to the Southern edge of the village is the Meeting Amphitheater for all town meetings, and performing arts. It was carved from the rocks by the magic of the Moonsingers and one well respected Spirit Kin. It has the appearance of a bowl almost, with the performing "stage" backed by rock raised from the earth that can only have been done by multiple Moonsingers working together to raise it. The audience area is carved into curved steps that are of comfortable size for any Lupe or Vulpe to lay on and observe the goings on. The most impressive part of the arrangement is the acoustics which renders a whisper from anywhere on stage audible at any part of the audience. Positioned at the cardinal directions around the amphitheater are large horns to call the village to meetings or performances. The Common Den Mostly intended for visiting Gryphs, the Common Den is also inhabited by a few of the younger Gryphs that haven't yet had the time or inclination to construct their own den. Built under and in the oldest tree in the village this common area is vibrant with life. It is very basic accommodation, but over the years has been decorated by both the most skilled and the most enthusiastic regardless of artistic skill. This has led to it being a cacophony of design, though over all leads to a comfortable and energetic place. The Watch Not technically in the village, a stone spire that some learned people say was raised by magic, and others say is a tree turned to stone. It is treacherously smooth, but with evenly spaced steps that lead spiraling around it up to the top of the dizzying heights of its top which spreads out to form a solid platform. Given the dangers of the world this place with the greatest line of sight not afforded by soaring flight has become a natural place to keep watch from. It is always staffed by a Gryph, though how attentive they are does vary to a significant degree due to it being a citizen task. A few Gryphs voluntarily go up there just to enjoy the view and solitude, and often they will trade that duty for other village tasks. Prong Hall Prong Hall is a medium sized den at the west edge of Eastdale village and the common meeting spot and place of worship for members of The Cult of the Prong and Hoof. It is also where the Hart Father - the massive, ancient skull of a deer or deer-like creature and the Cult's most sacred artifact - is housed. Prong Hall can accommodate up to 40 Gryphs and is maintained by members of the Cult. Corvée Obligatory labor to support the village that usually rotates through the residents. This can include such things as cleaning, digging, pruning of trees, time on The Watch, tending of herds, hunting, or agriculture. Everyone who lives in the village has corvée duties at least one day a week unless they have a duty that is considered to always be for the public good. The Town Administrator manages the Corvée list as part of their duty. Notable Gryphs The Town Administrator An elected position that few ever really want to have, this position handles the minutiae of every little thing about keeping the town running, fed, and operating. This includes Corvée, supplies, herd counts, and the like. Right now it is occupied by a very serious three legged Snow Lupe with black and white coloring, with his left eye blue and the right eye green named Remus. He has been elected to this position for the past 4 years because he does such a good job, and doesn't protest too much about the appointment. The Long Runner Not so much a position as a title that has been given to Tamora, a Tundra Lupine with a vivid blue coloring, and purple eyes. She takes the safety of the Village so seriously that she assigned herself the duty of patrolling the area around it every day, whether or not she had Corvée or not. After a few years of this and single-handedly preventing a Gnoll surprise raid, she quietly stopped being added to the work lists. Some believe she gets off work light, but she is revered by the majority of the farmers that live on the outskirts of the village.